The Starting Point

“Do you want me to shoot him now?”

“No, Mo! He’s already turned himself in,” said Philippe. “And he’s put his weapons outside the cell.”

Philippe closed the door between the cells and the courtroom where everyone else was, leaving only Sheriff Mo, Armstrong, and himself there. Sheriff Mo snorted in disgust. “At least you could use the lock so he can’t get out.”

“In a moment. I want to talk to him.” Philippe opened the cell door and sat down next to Armstrong. “Tell me. What happened?”

“I was coming to the meeting you called, and then I saw her. Bone Maiden. She was just standing there. And I thought. Maybe…” Armstrong’s face turned red with embarrassment.

“You thought that maybe it was a good time to ask about the love letter you wrote?” asked Philippe.

“You know about that?” cried Armstrong. “I’m so ashamed!”

“Then what happened?” asked Philippe.

Armstrong sniffed sadly. “I rolled up to her and she had this crazed look in her eye. She didn’t want to have anything to do with me. I asked her why she was acting like that and then she attacked me! I tried to defend myself. And then… I guess I over reacted.” Large tears started to pour out of his eyes. “It was horrible! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to kill her. I loved her!”

Sheriff Mo looked harshly at Armstrong through the bars. “You should have left that sweet girl alone.”

“I did!” said Armstrong. “I had this weird encounter with Thaloc last week and it scared me so much, I went back to the Island of Play to stay at home for a while.”

“What did Thaloc say?” asked Philippe.

“I have no idea, but he was really worked up about something,” said Armstrong. “I’ve never met him before, but I guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. After a few minutes of his babbling, I got this.. Ok. It’s weird to say. I had this vision of an amulet. It was powerful and scary. And then Thaloc just vanished! I was freaked out”

“Then you went home?”

“Yeah,” said Armstrong. “I was a bit shaken up. I decided to stay at home until I got your message to come here.”

“You’ve been home for a few weeks?” asked a surprised Philippe. “But Bone Maiden said she’s been seeing you around lately.”

The door flung open with a loud bang and Hacky ran inside. “MossHaven!”

Philippe blinked for a second trying to change his mental focus. “What? MossHaven?”

“That’s where the portal went. There’s a ripple in space in the multiverse through that spot.” Hacky smiled broadly. “All my multiverse selves figured it out.”

“Ok, let me get this straight,” said Philppe. “We need to go to MossHaven to find Magessica?”

“We need to start there,” said Hacky. “I think that’s where the portal ended. After we get there, we’ll have to figure out where to go next.”

“We’d better tell the group. Hang on Armstrong, I’ll be back.”

Philippe, Mo, and Hacky left the cell room hastily as Armstrong leaned back in his cell. “But, I didn’t get to tell you about the call I got.”

Philippe as he raced back into the courtroom. “We need to head to MossHaven. Has anyone ever been there?” The crowd grew silent as everyone shook their heads. “No one?”

“I hear it’s hard to get to,” said Mushi. “We never travel in that direction.”

“We’d better figure out a way, and quickly!” Philippe paced for a few seconds while he tried to think of a plan. “Garu? Can you trace this space time thing Hacky talked about to figure out where we need to start looking?”

“Yes. We have been tracking the portal signatures for a while,” said Garu. “Please be advised that we must keep this a secret. Trixie will lay traps for us if she knows we’re coming.”

“I fear she already has,” added Hoppiua. “It would be in her nature to do so.”

“We shouldn’t do this alone,” said Philippe. “We need to form teams, and whatever you do, don’t get separated from them.”

The sound of Borf barking madly outside made everyone stop and stare at the door. Tsuky burst in, panting. “I got here as fast as I could. It was hard to find any trace of Bone Maiden, but we finally did.”

“You found her?” asked Philippe.

“Not all of her,” said Tsuky. “Just a few remains.”

Philippe’s heart sank as it felt as if all the happiness had left his body.